Attorneys for Baltimore Police Officer Edward M. Nero are asking a judge to throw out a second-degree assault charge against him in the arrest of Freddie Gray, alleging prosecutors have failed to outline actions that constitute the crime.

Short of dismissing the charge, Nero's attorneys have asked Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams to block prosecutors from mentioning key aspects of their theory, including an alleged lack of probable cause for pursuing and arresting Gray, during Nero's upcoming trial.

They also want to block prosecutors from using key evidence in the case, including citizen video of the arrest and the knife found on Gray.-=-=-=-=-=-

Attorneys for Nero say any suggestion by prosecutors that Nero and the other officers lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause to stop Gray, that the knife found on Gray was legal, or that police used excessive force would not be grounded in any legal reality, and should therefore not be raised as issues before jurors.

They also ask that prosecutors be barred from discussing the injuries Gray suffered after his arrest. They argue that none of the charges against Nero require "any showing of injury in order for the State to satisfy the elements of the offenses."______________

Prosecutors say Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams overstepped his authority in refusing their request that he force Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter to testify at the trials of three of his fellow officers in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, and have asked him to delay those trials pending their appeal of his decision to a higher court.

The prosecutors argue Williams improperly took it upon himself to decide whether it would be in the "public interest" to compel Porter to testify under a limited form of immunity in the trials of Officer Edward M. Nero — set to begin Feb. 22 — and Officer Garrett E. Miller and Lt. Brian W. Rice, scheduled for early March.

Williams had questioned prosecutors' motives in wanting Porter to testify in those trials, suggesting they were using the request as a way to to delay them. He also questioned the relevance of Porter's testimony in those trials.

Despite Williams' "good intentions in seeking to avoid delay of the Defendant's trial," his decision to deny the request "ran contrary" to the law in Maryland, they said

Prosecutors announced their intent to appeal Williams' decision to the higher court last week. Their motions asking Williams to stay the trials outline for the first time the arguments they will likely make in their appeal to the higher court.

A court docket showed that attorneys for Nero, Miller and Rice all had filed responses to the state's motions, but those filings were not available in the case files at the clerk's office on Monday. They also were not posted to the website that the judiciary created to post documents online, and a court spokeswoman said she did not have access to the documents.____________________

Defense says state request to delay officers' trials based on 'subterfuge,' not lawKevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun

Three Baltimore police officers want their trials in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray to proceed as scheduled, and have asked two separate courts to dismiss as prosecutorial trickery the state's recent attempts to stall them.

Prosecutors last week asked Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams to issue a stay in the three trials, pending an appeal in the Court of Special Appeals in which they are asking the higher court to reverse a decision by Williams not to compel another officer, William G. Porter, to testify against the officers.

Attorneys for Officers Edward M. Nero and Garrett E. Miller and Lt. Brian W. Rice, however, said in new motions made available Tuesday that the state had no legal right to appeal Williams' decision, and that the appeal is simply "another transparent subterfuge" by prosecutors to regain control over the trial order of the six officers charged in the Gray case.

The state's only purpose for the appeal, the officers' attorneys wrote, is to "avoid trying the most legally and factually tenuous cases next."

Nero's trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 22. Miller's trial is scheduled for March 7, and Rice's trial is scheduled for April 13.

State says order forcing Porter to testify against fellow officers is 'nothing unusual'Kevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun

State attorneys say there is "nothing unusual or inappropriate" about the court order forcing Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter to testify at his fellow officers' trials in the death of Freddie Gray, as it provides him with immunity against self-incrimination in his own retrial in the case.

Assistant Attorney General Carrie J. Williams, arguing on behalf of city prosecutors in a brief filed Wednesday before the state's second-highest court, said Porter is "no different than any of the countless witnesses over the centuries to whom the government granted immunity in exchange for their compelled testimony." She also brushed off suggestions by Porter's attorneys that he was being used as a "whipping boy" by prosecutors in their extended litigation against the other officers, and that compelling his testimony flew in the face of hundreds of years of Maryland law.

"The reality is far more mundane — the State has chosen to use one of the many tools in its toolbox to prosecute the officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray," Williams wrote in the state's brief to the Court of Special Appeals.[.........]Oral arguments are scheduled in the Court of Special Appeals on March 4.

NoteThere is news on Porter, appeals etc that is relevant to all 6 cases/trials. Rather than post repeats in all 6 threads, I will (for now) post general info in this Nero Trial thread.. it's the next trial cab off the rank

_________________Do not go gentle into that good night.___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

The Maryland Attorney General's Office is asking the state's highest court to take up competing appeals in the Freddie Gray case.

The agency, representing the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office, petitioned Tuesday for a writ of certiorari and expedited review regarding questions over whether Baltimore Police Officer William Porter can be compelled to testify against other officers while still facing his own charges.

Porter has sought to block his forced testimony in the trial of Officer Caesar Goodson and Sgt. Alicia White. Meanwhile, prosecutors were denied in their attempt to compel Porter to testify against Officers Edward Nero and Garrett Miller, and Lt. Brian Rice, and are seeking the appellate court to overturn that decision.

The Attorney General's Office wrote that all five cases should be reviewed "because they provide an appropriate vehicle for this court to consider the application of [the state immunity statute] from all sides."

"The lower courts are in need of guidance regarding their proper role when faced with a prosecutor's request" under the immunity statute, they wrote.

They ask that the court resolve the issue "before Maryland's witness immunity scheme fails to function as the legislature intended."

Latest move IS encouraging in that something may be resolved and these trials move on. BUT, I am wondering if highest court rules in favor of the State, how long Porter's defense have to appeal decision. IMO his Defense have laid out good argument on why Porter should not be forced to testify prior to Porter's trial. And Judge Williams agrees.

BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore judge is refusing to postpone the trials of three police officers in the Freddie Gray case.

The orders involving Lt. Brian Rice and officers Garrett Miller and Edward Nero were released Thursday. All are charged with assault, misconduct and reckless endangerment. Rice is also charged with manslaughter.

Nero’s trial is set for Feb. 22. The others are scheduled in March.

They had asked Circuit Judge Barry Williams to stay proceedings until appellate courts decide if another officer awaiting retrial on related charges can be forced testify against them.

Williams found the motion inappropriate. He wrote that the state was merely trying to delay the trials until after the manslaughter retrial of Officer William Porter.

This is likely to be the week we learn whether there will be further delays in the trials of the officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray.

The Maryland Attorney General's Office is asking the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, to intervene, to determine whether Officer William Porter should be forced to testify at the trials of the five other accused officers.

Porter, whose trial ended with a hung jury in December, has been fighting any effort to force him to testify.

He faces a retrial in June.

Identical requests to the Court of Appeals were filed on Wednesday in each of the five remaining cases.

So far the Court of Appeals has not acted on the request.

On Maryland's News This Week, attorney Warren Alperstein, who is not representing anyone in this case, said that such requests are rare. He notes that prosecutors have limited grounds for filing an appeal, and these request don't appear to meet those standards.

Alperstein believes the Court of Appeals may agree to take up this issue, since there is a belief that all of these cases will wind up in the state's highest court, if the officers are convicted.

If the Court of Appeals takes up the case, it would delay the start of the trial of Officer Edward Nero, which is scheduled to start one week from tomorrow.

Nero, Officer Garrett Miller, and Lt. Brian Rice are the three officers who arrested Gray.

A motions hearing has been scheduled for Friday in the trial of Officer Edward M. Nero, the next Baltimore police officer set to go to court in the Freddie Gray case.

Among other pending motions, Nero's attorneys have asked the court to dismiss the second-degree assault charge against him, alleging prosecutors have failed to outline actions that constitute the crime. They've also asked the court to block prosecutors from mentioning key aspects of their theory, including an alleged lack of probable cause for arresting Gray, and from using key evidence in the case, including citizen video of the arrest and the knife found on Gray.

Prosecutors have also filed a range of motions, including one that asks the court to block the defense from referencing certain information about Gray's past — including his previous arrest record and prior interactions with law enforcement — that they argue is irrelevant to the case against Nero.

Officers in Freddie Gray case ask high court to reject state appealJustin Fenton and Kevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun

The next trial in the death of Freddie Gray is moving forward with a hearing scheduled for Friday, even as the state's highest court continues to weigh whether to intervene.

Defense attorneys for Officer Edward M. Nero, whose trial is slated to begin Monday, and other officers charged in the Gray case on Tuesday asked the Court of Appeals to reject a prosecution request to halt all proceedings.

Prosecutors want to be able to call Officer William Porter as a witness at all of the trials, but were rebuffed by Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams, who said the move appeared to be a stall tactic. The State's Attorney's Office had previously said it only considered Porter a witness in two other trials.

The state has asked the Court of Appeals to take up the matter, saying Williams overstepped his authority. If the appellate court accepts the request, it could tie up the proceedings for months.

Attorneys for the officers wrote Tuesday that the state's appeal is "not permitted by law."

"The state continues its pattern of deception, pretext and subterfuge in an attempt to end-run the Circuit Court's order and try the cases in the order in which it desires," they wrote.

Brian Kuebler (Verified account)@BrianfromABC2 15m15 minutes agoCourt of Appeals has conference scheduled for tomorrow @ 10 That is when it decides which cases to take. May know then. Or not. #FreddieGray